Episode 182. Krafte War – The end of the war
A hilly area near Mittelmark, the capital of the Krafte Kingdom.
Occupy the capital of the Kingdom of Krafte.
The Dukes of Saxony and Warsaw, who rebel against Krafte’s rule and seek independence, and the Northern United Kingdom, who seek to occupy the northern coast of Krafte Kingdom.
All three Allied monarchs were fighting against Crown Prince Henry’s Krafte army to seize the most important footholds for their own purposes.
The Northern United Kingdom had 30,000 troops, and Saxony and the Duke of Warsaw had 10,000 each.
On the other hand, Crown Prince Henry’s troops to oppose him were only 20,000 standing troops and 5,000 hastily conscripted troops.
The Allied forces planned to attack the enemy’s troops and destroy their flanks with overwhelming numerical superiority.
However, when the battle actually began, the Krafte army constantly maneuvered and did not give up its flanks, and the Allied forces, which continued to pursue them to attack them according to the operational plan, were completely out of order.
It was difficult for a single country’s army to maintain its formation as it was constantly moving, and it was an obvious result for allied countries that had never properly coordinated with each other.
“Damn it, the distance has widened so much! “Why can’t the Northerners catch up?”
The Duke of Saxony was furious as he saw the formation in disarray, and the general under him spoke with a pale face.
“I am very sorry, Your Excellency the Duke! We stick out too much! “You need to get out of here!”
“What are you talking about! The enemies keep running away like cowards! “At the time of the strategy meeting, our mission was to deal with the enemy’s main force, but what if our movements get messed up?”
“Your Excellency the Duke, if you are not careful, your allies will protrude too much and attack you intensively-”
“Your Excellency the Duke! “It’s an all-out enemy offensive!”
“What? “You were running away for a moment!”
“It’s reversed!”
In fact, the Duke of Saxony screamed at the sight of the enemy troops, who had been retreating just moments ago, now advancing in unison.
“Ugh, respond! “Tell the Duke of Warsaw and the King of Northern to come quickly and help!”
The Duke of Saxony was embarrassed and ordered a response, but there was no way the army could withstand the concentrated attack of Krafte’s army, as the spacing between units was stretched arbitrarily from the beginning and the command system was tangled and unstable.
The Saxon army, which received intensive attacks from the Krafte army, was the first to begin to collapse one by one, and by the time the Allied forces joined the battle, half of the troops had already fled.
While the central army was collapsing in vain, the situation on the flanks was not much different.
King Gustav
“Is what you’re seeing really real?”
“I am so sorry. your majesty.”
Gustav
“My 12 regiments are being defeated by only 3 regiments?”
The Dukes of Saxony and Warsaw had, at best, a small proportion of rebel standing armies and a large proportion of conscripts.
Therefore, it is right for the Northern United Kingdom, which has a large standing army, to conduct sophisticated tactical engagements, such as the so-called Krafte or Frangia, which attack as if covering the enemy.
More precisely, he claimed so because he wanted to claim the most heroic performance in this battle.
However, the Northern United Kingdom army, caught up in the ceaseless retreat of the Krafte army, advanced at different speeds and positions, disrupting its formation.
Still, as our troops began to be attacked, they were naturally able to attack the flanks as well.
Crown Prince Henry deployed only three regiments on the flank to overcome the overwhelming military inferiority, and Gustav
However, the reality was that due to the messed up formation, 12 regiments were deployed one after another, but were individually defeated by the concentrated attack of 3 regiments, and all were routed.
“Your Majesty the former King! The Duke of Saxony’s army is being defeated!”
“The Duke of Anderson is requesting permission to retreat, Your Majesty!”
“This is not what it is.”
Gustav XII muttered with a soulless face.
I saw the king of Krafte defeat the empire and be praised as a great king.
After seeing the young Marquis of Francia defeat the heroes of a previous era, he thought that he too had an opportunity.
But the reality is bitter.
It was an excessive delusion to expect that soldiers trained for a short period of time without proper combat experience would perform in such a manner.
What came to mind when Gustav
A seasoned man with poison on his tongue and a black witch who whispered sweet benefits.
“your majesty! “The central army has collapsed!”
“It’s dangerous! “You must retreat, Your Majesty!”
Gustav XII lamented as he watched his army fall apart.
“Jim was fooled, Jim was fooled! There was no way I could win against Krafte-kun from the beginning…!”
* * *
The allied forces of the Northern United Kingdom and the Duke of Saxony-Warsaw suffered a crushing defeat in the battle and withdrew just before the fall of Mittelmark, the capital of the Kingdom of Krafte.
“Long live His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!”
“Mittelmark is safe!”
Crown Prince Heinrich, who had achieved a great victory over an allied force that was more than twice as strong, slowly closed his eyes while listening to the cheers of the soldiers praising him.
Because of his ambiguous status as a potential heir to the throne as a nephew and not a child of the great king, he was always careful about how he behaved.
He always praised the great king and had to be careful in all his actions so as not to attract his attention.
However, he never thought that the praise that had been directed at him would return to him only after he acknowledged that he was different from the Great King and that he could never follow the Great King or the Marquis de Lafayette.
How ironic.
Heinrich smiled self-deprecatingly.
“Congratulations on your great victory, Your Majesty the Crown Prince.”
Heinrich looked at the relatively young generals bowing in front of him.
The older generals who shared glory and victory with the great king still remain by his side, but younger generals who had relatively few opportunities are joining him.
“Good job, General Scharnhorst. Still, it’s just the beginning. “They may be shocked now, but they probably haven’t lost all their strength yet.”
“Would it be possible? However, His Majesty the King was ultimately defeated at Bahua. Even if we could achieve victory over the Northern United Kingdom and the rebels, we would not be able to stop the Frangian army if it came to our home country…”
Heinrich also sighed deeply after hearing Scharnhorst’s concerns.
The Great King is a man with amazing abilities, but the gap between the national power of Franzia and Krafte is fundamentally large.
Now that a large number of the standing army, the main force of Krafte’s army, has been sacrificed, it will be nearly impossible to achieve victory no matter how great the king is.
“Does it just depend on their will to war?”
If they advance towards the home country to help the Northern United Kingdom, Saxony, and the Duke of Warsaw, there is no way to stop them.
Heinrich did his best. Nevertheless, Krafte’s national fortune is not in his hands.
The Marquis de Lafayette, who defeated the Great King at the same age as him. And the young saint queen he serves. Should we leave Krafte’s fate to their judgment?
Another news was delivered to Crown Prince Heinrich, who was brooding over his shame despite his great victory.
“His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.”
“Something General Gneisenau?”
“A guest has arrived. “It looks like he came nearby early and was waiting for the results of the battle.”
“customer? “What kind of customer?”
When Gneisenau approached and whispered, Crown Prince Henry’s eyes widened.
Then, he walked almost at a running pace to the barracks where the guests were, and only slowed down when he was nearby, feigning composure.
Taking a deep breath, he passed the guards and entered the barracks, where a woman sitting in a robe waiting for him slowly took off her hood.
“Congratulations on your victory, Crown Prince Heinrich. With this victory, you have earned the right to represent Krafte in name and reality.”
“…Kaiserin Cecilia.”
Cecilia, Empress of the Germanian Empire, smiled and said.
“Shall we negotiate? The next king of the Kingdom of Krafte.”
* * *
Francia Bahua Revolutionary Army base.
After Christine left and I recuperated for another day, I was able to return to work.
“Welcome, Marquis. “Your face has improved a lot?”
Eris greets me with a bright smile, but I find it strangely unpleasant that the generals are also smiling brightly.
“…Thanks to Her Majesty the Queen.”
The time spent dealing with Christine’s anger and grumpiness was not as good as they thought.
…was it good?
anyway.
I cleared my throat and opened my mouth.
“Has Your Majesty been getting along well at the headquarters without a Commander-in-Chief?”
As I said that and rolled my eyes, all the generals immediately lowered their gazes.
I never thought I would stop coming after seeing these things while I was recuperating because the queen told me not to do them.
“I haven’t had a good time.”
Eris’s answer was surprisingly dull.
“yes?”
Then Eris smiled and said.
“While the Marquis was resting, I received about seven marriage proposals.”
“ah.”
Right.
Until now, she had been treated as a puppet of the National Assembly, who would soon be defeated by the Empire and Krafte and dethroned, but now she will win the war and be proudly recognized as the Queen of Franzia.
She is even a young, beautiful, unmarried saint who holds the crown of a powerful country called Francia.
It’s not like we don’t know that King Louis’ head was cut off on the guillotine by the National Assembly, but it’s too sweet a fruit to give up.
In the eyes of nobles and royal families from other countries, the Central Party and I will be seen as Eris’s royal forces.
“I’m quite angry because they don’t even try to hide their impure intentions.”
“Haha, originally, for nobles and royals, marriage is a political thing.”
As I sat down with a wry smile, Eris added bitterly.
“For your information, the three were arranged by the Central Party.”
“…I apologize, Your Majesty.”
I have nothing to say.
Come to think of it, the main members of the Central Party, including the Count of Anjou, were also so-called old nobles…
In their opinion, it would not make sense for her to be an unmarried queen without an heir.
Even so, I never thought such a thing would have been exchanged while I was away in the capital.
Eris seemed to be looking at me intently and then grinned.
“I thought so, but I don’t think the Marquis touched it. Then it’s okay. “Now is not the time to talk about this leisurely.”
I also nodded to Eris.
“Yes, Her Majesty the Queen is right.”
Then he turned his gaze to look at the generals.
“report.”
Alexandre Werther cleared his throat and opened his mouth.
“The total number of casualties in the last battle was 67,382.”
I was prepared, but it was beyond my imagination.
I barely suppressed the feeling of being out of breath.
“Of these, 34,179 people have recovered or are expected to be able to return with the help of Her Majesty the Queen and her priests.”
Then the rest are either warriors or no longer able to serve in the military.
“okay. … Thank you, Her Majesty the Queen.”
“you’re welcome. “Because it’s my job.”
Eris smiled lightly and answered.
I didn’t notice it because of her casual attitude as usual, but when I looked closely, Eris also had fatigue on her face.
Did you attend the meeting while taking a short break?
I feel proud that I am progressing while managing my condition without overdoing it until I collapse like before, but I also feel sorry.
“What about Krafte?”
“I can’t figure it out exactly, but the casualties seem to be around 80,000.”
“…It’s terrible.”
Since half of the troops were routed after fighting with losses, it can be said that no matter how great the king is, he has essentially lost his offensive capabilities.
“Okay, it will only be a matter of time before we drive Krafte out of Franzia. “The problem is what comes next.”
If we expel the Krafte army from Alsace, they will eventually try to negotiate a peace agreement. Any more than that and their home country will be attacked.
However, since we have attracted the Northern United Kingdom and the Duke of Saxony-Warsaw…
“What is the situation in Krafte’s home country?”
“That’s…”
Werther continued, and when I slowly raised my eyebrows, Louis Desais smiled awkwardly and answered for me.
“It is said that their allied army of 50,000 troops was defeated by the 25,000 troops led by Crown Prince Heinrich.”
“plane? “That?”
“I’m sorry, but that’s true. It seems that Crown Prince Heinrich is now being praised as much as the Great King in Krafte, and there has been a request from the Northern United Kingdom to quickly advance to Krafte’s homeland.”
“…. This is ridiculous….”
I thought that even if they couldn’t push the Kingdom of Krafte to the brink of destruction, they would get the hang of it.
We have gained everything just by losing part of Crown Prince Heinrich’s standing army thanks to them. Should we march all the way to the mainland of Krafte to take the land they can eat?
I don’t know about the National Assembly, but at least I don’t think Eris wants it.
While I was thinking that, a messenger came in.
“I apologize during the meeting, Your Excellency the Marquis de Lafayette. “I have urgent news.”
“Urgent report from here? Something?”
“It is said that the Germanian Empire is preparing a mobilization order!”
“what? “How long has it been since you said you were busy suppressing the rebellion?”
“It appears that the suppression was completed during the street fighting in Bahua. “We also received news that the princes held a ceremony to swear loyalty in front of Empress Cecilia and the Crown Prince.”
“her.”
In that messed up empire, the feudal lords who wanted to spit out the debt they owed were suppressed by force?
I slowly turned my head and looked at Damien de Mirbeau.
“What do you think?”
Still, he is a general with a high reputation as the second-in-command of the revolutionary army, so I should listen to his opinion.
However, Damien actually behaved very pathetically.
“Yes yes? My me? What?”
Ah, this is truly a master of defense.
I glanced at Damien de Mirbeau, who was embarrassed, and then turned to Louis Desget.
“I don’t think we want to go to war again. Even if the rebellion was suppressed immediately, the inside would be a mess. Nevertheless, it is highly likely that the fact that we stepped forward was an action to check our entry into the territory of the Kingdom of Krafte, which is part of the empire.”
“…It is highly likely that you received a promise from Krafte to receive something? “Perhaps not to the Great King, but to Crown Prince Henry.”
When I spoke, Chief of Staff Werther responded.
“yes. It is most likely a support for the crown prince as elector. So, he is probably trying to regain the next throne, which he practically gave up by asking for help from the Kingdom of Krafte. Additionally, if the Kingdom of Krafte is divided between us, Franzia’s influence within the empire will become stronger, so you probably want to prevent that too.”
“Huh…”
It was Cecilia, no, it was Kaiserin Cecilia.
That’s amazing. Even in this shitty war, you will ultimately protect the minimum line?
If we push through to Krafte, it wouldn’t be impossible to destroy Kraftena’s imperial army, which is frankly a mess, and lead the Northern United Kingdom and the Duchy of Saxony-Warsaw to divide Krafte and abandon it.
But at the same time, it ultimately becomes the spark for another war, and more than anything, we have to make more sacrifices.
I sighed lightly and looked at Eris.
And the answer that will come out of her mouth is fixed.
“…Let’s end this war, Marquis.”
